Eccentric ladies highly thought of (6)

I believe the answer is:

ideals

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'highly thought of' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'eccentric ladies' is the wordplay.
'eccentric' is an anagram indicator.
'ladies' anagrammed gives 'IDEALS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ideals that I've seen before include "Morals" , "Bad ladies have high principles" , "Moral standards" , "High standards for ladies" , "High values for ladies" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail and The Irish Independent.

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